Athens, Greece: Rape at squatted theatre “Empros”

greece / turkey / cyprus | gender | press release Friday April 26, 2019 22:02 by Fuerza Femenina

At "Empros” is not the first time that such an incident occurs, and according to people who have witnessed them, those responsible for the safety of the squat always "accidentally" covered them. Also, one of the first defense measures of the apologists is to confront every complaint as a lie. That is where the "freedom" of these places arrives.

Athens, Greece: Rape at squatted theatre “Empros”

In April 19 in Athens, Greece, there is a publicly reported rape that took place on March 9 (according to a denouncement) inside “Empros” (“Forward”, a squatted theatre that used as a centre of mainly cultural collectives and initiatives, both antiauthoritarian and leftist). Then there is a communique by the collective Spiti Ton Gynaikon (Women’s House) of leaving the centre in disgust in which more details about the case are given.

On April 22, one and a half months after the event (!), the assembly of “Empros” decides to take a stance.

Incidents of rape, abuse, and gender discrimination occurring in "places of freedom" are doubly unacceptable (compared to the rest of the society), as these spaces evoke anarchy, freedom, and abolition of any discrimination and coercion.

In Greece a significant number of “comrades” who participate in such places have (mostly) the habit when dealing with incidents of sexual violence and harassment within them, to cover them under the store. And “Empros” is not the first or it does not come to take the lead in this mentality.

The same attempt to cover up such incidents have been seen and experienced in earlier cases of rape (such as Matsaggou Squat in Volos and Antifascist Place Kamenik in Thessaloniki), abusive behavior incidents such as at Villa Zografou, Analipsi Squat (semiologically the attack by a member of Analipsi Squat took place at “Empros”), Anarchist Group Pyranthos (in Thessaloniki), but also in a number of other "anarchist" groupings all over Greece, which supported the attackers and their herds as to be genuine apologists for gendered and sexual violence.

Both in Volos and other cities, the targeting and the threats to those who have denounced the rape at “Empros” and the similar behavior in other places are not new and it is coming through mostly social media outlets.

The laundry efforts by “Empros” side were accompanied by public statements of the type "we will not making press releases of what is happening at the Saturday’s party" and "these complaints make the squats and their members targets in the eyes of the State” etc. The threat of a possible evacuation by the authorities is a good tool and pretext for burying incidents of gender violence and sexual harassment.

At "Empros” is not the first time that such an incident occurs, and according to people who have witnessed them, those responsible for the safety of the squat always "accidentally" covered them. Also, one of the first defense measures of the apologists is to confront every complaint as a lie. That is where the "freedom" of these places arrives.

Every attempt to cover up we will find us opposite.